Monday, October 12, 2015

As noted in last week’s issue of The Lighthouse, Independent Institute Senior Fellow Ivan Eland
has warned that the Obama administration’s foreign policies are
bringing the United States into greater conflict with Russia and China.
It’s entirely conceivable, Eland argues in two columns for the Huffington Post,
that the Obama strategies will end up dragging the United States into
war. First, let’s examine an emerging conflict between the United States
and Russia.

Syria is quickly becoming a leading point of contention between
Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin. Each believes his country’s interests
with respect to Syria differ from the other’s: Putin wants to defeat
ISIS (and other radical Islamist groups that could radicalize Russia’s
Muslims) and shore up the Assad regime, whereas Obama wants to defeat
ISIS and see Assad taken down. But as Eland explains, there is another,
less-recognized factor that could prolong and deepen their conflict:
Both Putin and Obama underestimate the limitations of relying on air
power without “boots on the ground”—especially those of indigenous
forces with intimate knowledge of the terrain and its people. If Obama
better understood this reality, as well as the history of
counterinsurgency campaigns (a subject to which Eland has devoted an
entire book), the U.S. Commander in Chief would recognize that only
Kurdish forces and the remnants of the Syrian army can defeat ISIS and
other radical Islamist groups in Syria. Obama would also recognize that
Syria is of no strategic value to the United States and would withdraw
all U.S. military power from that hornet’s nest.

U.S.-China relations could also suffer, especially with respect to
the military aspects of Obama’s “pivot to Asia.” Because China has
territorial disputes with U.S. allies around the East and South China
Seas, Washington’s strengthening of military ties in the region could
drag the United States into war with Beijing, Eland argues. The
potential for wars with China and Russia underscore the need for a
return to foreign policies advocated by America’s Founders. Writes
Eland: “George Washington wisely warned against the United States
becoming involved in ‘permanent alliances,’ and Thomas Jefferson
astutely cautioned against the country being bogged down by ‘entangling
alliances.’ Obama is taking the opposite course by strengthening
alliances that have become both permanent and entangling.”

Whatever Russia’s motives in Syria, one thing is clear: persecuted
Syrian Christians favor Russian intervention against the jihadis
slaughtering them, while accusing the U.S. and Western allies of only
engaging in cosmetic strikes. Here are the words of a Syrian Christian
leader — one well acquainted with the persecution his people are
experiencing — concerning Russian intervention, as reported in Asia News.
Note also what he says of the non-IS rebels being struck by Russia,
the groups the U.S. is eager to portray as simply “anti-Assad rebels,”
but which in fact are also Christian slaughtering jihadis:

This 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, number 18 of 69 produced, is highly
celebrated in the supercar community and boasts known ownership history
from day one. It was restored by muscle-car specialist Dave Tinnell and
most recently displayed in the famed Brett Torino Collection; it is also
one of very few known to retain its original all-aluminum 427/430 underrated HP
ZL1 engine.

TO THE MEMORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS WHOSE HIGH FAITH AND INDOMITABLE COURAGE GAVE TO MANKIND A NEW WORLDBORN MCDXXXVI DIED MDIV(1436—1504)

That`s the inscription on the monument to Christopher Columbus in front of Union Station in DC. The monument, a really great sculpture group by Lorado Taft,
was dedicated in 1912, by people who thought that discovering America,,
in the face of great odds and great dangers, was a Good Thing.

Now, of course, people are discovering that Columbus was white, and
so it’s okay to hate him.

(ATLANTA – October 12, 2015) The
Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans responded today to
the proposal by the Stone Mountain Memorial Association to erect a
monument to MLK, former black civil rights activist. This decision by
the Stone Mountain Memorial Association is wholly inappropriate in that
it is an intentional act of disrespect toward the stated purpose of the
Stone Mountain memorial from its inception as well as a possible
violation of the law which established the Stone Mountain Memorial
Association and charged it with promoting the mountain as a Confederate
memorial.

The Venable
family, which owned Stone Mountain in the early 1900′s, leased the face
of the mountain to the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1916 for
the purpose of creating a carved memorial to the Confederacy. The UDC
contracted Gutzon Borglum, who later sculpted the Mount Rushmore
carving; after the work was halted due to a disagreement with Borglum,
the carving remained unfinished for several decades. As the state began
to discuss interest in reviving the memorial project as a state
project, the Venable family deeded the land to the Stone Mountain
Confederate Memorial, Inc. in 1956. Two years later, in 1958, the state
of Georgia purchased Stone Mountain; and the General Assembly created
the Stone Mountain Memorial Association expressly to maintain the
mountain and all adjacent property as a Confederate memorial and
complete a portion of the original design for the carving.

The
act of the General Assembly which created the Stone Mountain Memorial
Association specifically states the park, including both the mountain
and all adjacent property, is to be maintained and operated as a
Confederate memorial (OCGA 12-3-191). The erection of monuments to
anyone other than Confederate heroes in Stone Mountain Park is in
contradistinction to the purpose for which the park exists and would
make it a memorial to something different. The park was never intended
to be a memorial to multiple causes but solely to the Confederacy.
Therefore, monuments to either Michael King or soldiers of any color who
fought against the Confederacy would be a violation of the purpose for
which the park was created and exists. The opinions of the park’s
current neighbors and opponents are of no bearing in the discussion.

Furthermore,
the erection of a monument to anything other than the Confederate Cause
being placed on top of Stone Mountain because of the objections of
opponents of Georgia’s Confederate heritage would be akin to the state
flying a Confederate battle flag atop the King Center in Atlanta against
the wishes of King supporters. Both would be altogether inappropriate
and disrespectful acts, repugnant to Christian people.

For more information about the Sons of
Confederate Veterans or any of this year’s planned events to commemorate
the Sesquicentennial of the War, contact the Georgia SCV
at 404-271-8473 or online at www.GeorgiaSCV.org

Ben Carson suggested last week the Holocaust wouldn’t have happened
if Jews in Europe were better armed. He argued that gun control is a
bigger tragedy than a bullet-riddled body. He said the best way to
confront a mass shooter is to rush the gunman.

The statements, after the mass shooting in Oregon that killed nine
college students, have drawn no shortage of criticism, including from
public-safety experts and the FBI. Carson’s commentary on gun policy is
emblematic of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

Louis Farrakhan commemorated the 20th
anniversary of the so-called “Million Man March” Saturday with the kind
of hate fest that would have made the KKK or skinheads proud.

The rally was called “Justice or Else!” – a threat aimed at the heart of America.

This demagogue has openly incited violence against whites and police
in the lead-up to the event, and a number of speakers Saturday followed
suit.

Tony Russell of Hands Up United Ferguson said the “or else!” in the
event’s title is a threat for more riots if their demands aren’t met.
Farrakhan and Black Lives Matter know that as long as Obama is
president, he will never authorize federal authorities to arrest black
racists.

Farrakhan understandably said at the event that he has no fear of the FBI or the CIA.

A Republican state official in Alabama has come under firein recent weeks
for speaking to a neo-Confederate group about his efforts to return
portraits of segregationist former Govs. George and Lurleen Wallace to
the state Capitol rotunda.

But in a Tuesday phone interview with TPM, state Auditor Jim Zeigler
(R) flatly dismissed criticism of the neo-Confederate League of the
South as a hate group—and said he'd be happy to speak before the group
again.

Jan Mickelson, an influential conservative radio host in Iowa who frequently interviews Republican presidential candidates, has a bit of a rocky history of discussing the Civil War. Earlier this year, he made Sen. Lindsey Graham exceedingly uncomfortable when he said South Carolina was “invaded” in the Civil War, “pretty much like the Russians are invading the Ukraine.” He also made waves in August when he suggested enslaving undocumented immigrants who refuse to leave the state.

Yesterday, Mickelson waded again into the issue of slavery and the Civil War when he invited military historian Edward Bonekemper onto his program to discuss Bonekemper’s new book “The Myth of the Lost Cause,” which pushes back against myths about the Civil War, including a number that, it turns out, are espoused by Mickelson himself. The interview took place immediately before Michaelson interviewed GOP presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Rand Paul.

One of the most onerous (and by way of enactment, offensive)
programs the “progressive” usurpers implemented in the South was that of
public
education. It was a proven program in New England, the rest of the North
was
taking it up, and in order for the backward South to be “proper”
Americans, their betters in the North expected Southerners to accept it
as a price for re-entering the Union. Indeed, Southerners, given their
ignorance, should consider themselves honored to be blessed with the
beneficent guidance of the North’s expertise on matters of public
education. Yes, that is sarcasm you’re reading in my words.

“On principle, I find that I am in disagreement with his policies on
gun control, and therefore, we will not be attending the visit,” said
Stacy Boylan, the father of Ana Boylan, who was shot in the back and is
now recovering from her wounds.

Mr. Boylan brought up the issue of gun control and how it creates target rich environments for evildoers.

“My
daughter said to me, ‘What if somebody would have had a gun?’ Gun-free
and gun control takes that option off the table,” Boylan stated. “I
don’t think that’s the right course.”

Russia Is Destabilizing Syria According to the People Currently Destabilizing Syria

******************************

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a sharp spike in Pepto-Bismol
consumption during the so-called interview of the prevaricator in chief
on 60 Minutes this evening. To be sure there will be those on the left
who will accuse CBS of selling out to the Republicans but that is little
more than a smoke screen to cover for the more obvious questions that
were not asked.

1. How is it that President Bush the elder was able to decimate the
largest army in the middle east with a brief concentrated air campaign
and then bring it to its knees with an even briefer ground campaign but
your Pentagon can't make headway against what you have defined as "the
JV squad" of terrorism?

Remembrance

Winners: Navy Cross Nguyen Van Kiet & MOH Thomas R. Norris This week’s Medal of Honor hero is one of a handful of Navy SEALs awarded the MOH in the Vietnam War. Norris snuck behind enemy lines with a South Vietnamese Navy petty officer rescued two downed pilots in 1972–when most of our resources had been pulled from the country. Interesting to note that later year, Norris was himself rescued by another SEAL Michael E. Thornton.More @ Medal of Honor Roll Call

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Core Creek Militia

==============================My sixth great grandfather, his wife, and five of his six children were killed in battle with the Tuscarora Indians at Core Creek, NC.

The Seven Blackbirds

==============================My third great grandfather was an Ensign in the Revolutionary War, and saved his unit's flag after being wounded at the Battle of Brandywine. He was also at Kingston (Kinston), Wilmington, Charleston, Two Sisters and Augusta. He was at the defeat at Brier Creek and also Bee Creek.

Requiem Aeternam -
Eternal Rest Grant unto Them
==============================
My second great grandfather was killed in action on May 3, 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
=============================
My great grandfather and great uncle knew all the men in the "Civil War Requiem" video as they were part of the 53rd NC which was the sole unit defending Fort Mahone. (Fort Mahone was named "Fort Damnation" by the Yankees) *Handpicked men of the 53rd (My great grandfather was one of these) made the final, night assault at Petersburg in an attempt to break Grant's line. This was against Fort Stedman which was a few miles to the slight northeast. They initially succeeded, but reinforcements drove them back. This video is made from photographs which were taken the day after the 53rd evacuated the lines the night before to begin the retreat to Appomattox. I have many more pictures taken by the same photographer, one of these shows a 14 year old boy and the other is the famous picture of the blond, handsome soldier with his musket.
===========================
*General Gordon promised the men a gold medal and 30 days leave if they accomplished their task and many years after the War my great grandfather wrote General Gordon, who was then governor of Georgia about this incident. They exchanged several letters which I have framed. See first link below.
===========================
*The Attack On Fort Stedman
============================
"His Colored Friends"
============================
Lee's Surrender
=============================
My Black NC Kinfolks
============================
Punished For Being Caught!

Great Grandfather Koonce

He was a drummer boy in the WBTS, survived the War only to die a few years later. He was caught in an ice storm on his way home, but instead of seeking shelter, continued on his horse until the end. His clothes had to be cut off and he died a few days later.

Thank you

I would just like you to know how so very glad I am that I found your blog. I have learned more history from you and the many links that you post than I have from reading all my history books. I can never thank you enough for the education you are freely giving me. It is priceless. And eye opening.

Many times I will not comment, but that does not mean I am not reading and learning.

You sir, are an educator. Thank you.

PhyllisWantage, NJ

Good morning Mr. Townsend,

Just to let you know I have finally finished that massive tome on General Lee. I never knew 1/10th of what a great man he was. No wonder the South is so proud of him! So sad that we have few men of his caliber today. We need them desperately. I have learned more history through you and your blog than I thought I could ever learn. I am very grateful to you. Thank you so much for taking time to answer my e-mail. And thank you for your blog and for opening my eyes.

PhyllisWantage, NJ

".......So good to hear from you! And also so pleased you are converting more of us Yankees! You have no idea how many people you have taught. And how many are so grateful to you for showing us the truth."

Your faithful friend,

Phylis

==============================

I have also learned from Brock Townsend and two nurses lately, that appreciation expressed by someone for whom you have great respect overwhelms the lack of appreciation by some from whom you expect it. I believe that we cannot really know which small bit of help makes the life-saving difference. ﻿I may have learned more real American history on Brock's blog than in 20 years of government schooling.

I have learned more history from you than all the years I was supposed to be in school (and not out hunting or fishing).

==============================

I really must say, I like thousands of others have said, your blog is the best out there and with all of your history and experience, you should run for *president. I look forward to reading your blog every day and every day I learn from you. Thank you for the time you put into this effort .